Mrs Eye, has taken the baby and the dog off to Wales, so I'm all on my lonesome. 😐
But it means I can ride all weekend! 😀 I'm going locally in Epping on Saturday to make sure the bike feels alright then venture further on Sunday. So the question is, which one of the above is more accessible by train and the most' fun'?
If anyone's out at either location and wouldn't mind showing me around, I'd really appreciate it as well.
Swinley if you ain't been there before.
train from Waterloo to Dorking will get you close to the Surrey Hills or you could connect to Gomshall which isn't far from the infamous Peaslake and the nearby Holmbury and Pitch trails.
train to Martin's Heron will get you close to Swinley.
you would be better off on both with someone to show you where to go, but there should be enough people at both (once you get to Peaslake or in the Swinley car park) that you can shadow some riders. Swinley has waymarked trails too.
The new Swinley is boring. There, I said it.
Swinley is just way marked trails now, so if you don't know your way around go there. There's more riding in the Surrey Hills, but not great if you don't know your way around.
Swinley is a safe bet if you want to traipse your way around a couple of short loops (blue AND red) for an hour or two. It's very flat though.
Surrey Hills cover a far greater area and offer a heck of a lot more, but you'll need to hook up with someone or ele shadow. Plenty of climbs too. Far better scenery an' all.
The new Swinley is boring
It's better than I was expecting but from recent postings Swinley is best avoided at weekends due to the amount of people riding the new trails.
Having ridden both a fair bit I'd say Swinley. Easy to get to from train(martins Heron) from Waterloo
Good fun loops, easy to navigate. Whilst not hilly as such there's plenty of speed/fun to be had in places and enough to tire yourself out on.
Surrey could disappoint purely as it relies on finding/knowing/linking the good stuff.
I used to ride Surrey hills most weeks. The ride started from Gomshall station car park and do a loop which included cake at the tower. Start was about 11AM finishing about 5.
Issue 79 has a map of the area which will give you lots of the good bits. It is tricky if you don't know the area but there are roads everywhere so worst case you road it back to Gomshall. Peaslake has a cafe and perhaps a bike shop now so.
http://singletrackworld.com/magarchive/issue-79/ (page 60)
Are there any potential problems putting bikes on these trains, limited numbers / times etc. Oh, and oyster cards ok? Ta.
If you can, find a copy of the Nirvanna cycles "killer" loop , it's very easy to get on to from the station at Dorking.
Look for Ashcombe road (A2003)taking you onto Ranmore rd and turn left onto the first path you see..... 😀
Take a compass and go round in a big circle........ 😀
Surrey Hills is more riding, Swinley is easier to navigate. Mind you, I've been to Swinley a couple of times only, but tens of times in Surrey Hills.
Oh, and Oyster DOES NOT work. You need to buy a proper ticket for both.
The trains that go to Martins Heron (via Clapham Junction I think, I get on at Richmond) have got large wheelchair areas that are perfect for bikes.
For Surrey Hills Dorking is best combination of proximity/convenience with the train. You can also ride in from Guildford (about 40 mins along North Dwns Way to Ranmore or drop down to Peaslake).
Swinley is easier to follow as trails are signposted, newcomers to Surrey Hills can be disappointed as they cannot find much of the singletrack. The published routes are mostly bridleways (good riding though) if you want some pointers drop me an email
Surrey Hills is rubbbish. Stay away.
No, I've no idea where "The Yoghurt Pots" is... 
You could try "London Calling" on [url=
to join) or [url= http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10014&t=12669705&start=7400 ]BikeRadar[/url]... someone to ride with, and they typically ride Surrey Hills and Swinley
The Surrey hills - Omerta.
I take it all back, go to Swinley!!
Just been out in the Surrey Hills for 3 hrs this morning. The trails are in great nick.
If you haven't been shown some of the trails before you'll find it hard to navigate to the best routes. Swinley is easy to navigate in comparison.
BTW - been riding these hills for years and rode two new (to me) trails today. It's amazing the number of trails packed in round here.
Looks like it's the new rubbish Swinley for me then - I've never been so won't have anything to compare to.
Thanks for the advice.
I'll be heading out sunday morning so hopefully the trains will be quiet.
Has the trail that doesn't exist in the area that is really bad and best avoided, been re-opened? Is it largely unchanged if so? I enjoyed the changes when it was first done but haven't been over there for a while. It's the look on people's faces first time round (including mine) when your realise too late that you are in the wrong gear!
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